Get Off Easy
by KatherineLynn
Summary: Charles Hoyt has a new victim, and it isn't who you think.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this is my first Rizzoli and Isles fanfiction, so bear with me as I muddle the waters of this wonderful pair of ladies. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I kind of love both of these women, so, I want them chained to my radiator forever, howeverrrr, I can't have them.

Chapter One: Welcome to the Family

Jane Rizzoli lowered her shoulder and pushed open the door to the hospital, her face tight with worry, her badge raised. A nurse stepped in her way and she dodged him, barely sparing him a glance. Frankie was sitting in the waiting room, his head in his hands, and Frost was pacing by the nurses' station.

"What happened?" She growled through her teeth. Frankie glanced up immediately, alarmed at his sister's ferocity, but didn't seem to be able to speak. She softened momentarily and placed a hand on his shoulder. Frost looked as sick as Frankie, but he swallowed thickly and filled her in.

"We found Sparkman at the park, with the dope, but he rabbited the second he saw us. Korsak cut him off, but one of his buddies was just out of sight. He took two bullets to the shoulder," he wiped his hand across his face and Jane was startled to see what looked like tear tracks on the young detective's face. She moved away from her brother and reached for Frost's hand.

"You got the guy?" she asked tentatively, her raspy voice low. She tried not to think about the pale look on her brother's face, knowing he had just made detective and had already seen his friend take a bullet. She pushed the thoughts of her own former partner bleeding on the ground while Frost yelled for Frankie to call 911, and unbidden, thoughts of Hoyt managed to surface. She hoped Korsak wouldn't have to go through what she had.

He nodded, blinking once. She squeezed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. "Then you did your job, and that's all you could have done, okay? He's going to be just fine." She pulled away from her friend and glanced up at the waiting room again. "Has anyone seen Maura?"

Frankie answered from the chair. "She's in the surgery, observing. She knew the surgeon, and she..." he paused, as if he didn't know how to continue. "She asked nicely."

Jane stifled a smirk. That was Maura. She settled in the seat next to her brother and placed a hand on his knee. "How are you feeling, little bro?"

His knee imperceptibly twitched at the contact, but he didn't move away. "I don't want to talk about it," he muttered. Jane looked momentarily taken aback, but grabbed his chin and made him look into their matching eyes.

"I know that tone, Frankie Jr., and this is not your fault, you understand? You were the one who cracked this case, not me, not Frost, not Korsak. You. Just because something went wrong doesn't mean it's your fault," his face, though pointed at hers, was still a gray pallid color and his eyes were focused on her nose.

"Jane!"

Reluctantly, Jane released her brother and greeted her best friend, who was rapidly pulling off her surgical gown to hide the blood on it. Jane, who was never squeamish, felt bile rising in the back of her throat. That was her former partner's blood, the man who had saved her from Hoyt.

Hoyt again, rose in her mind. She stomped it out.

"I'm so glad you're here," she continued, pulling off her gloves. Frost gagged and turned away, his hand over his mouth. "He's going into recovery right now, but it looks like he's going to be just fine. The bullets missed his heart, but fractured his clavicle. It'll be a painful recovery, but I think he can handle it."

Jane felt a smile creep up on her face and she hugged her friend. "That's great," she exclaimed. She turned to Frankie. "Isn't that great, Frankie?"

He was standing now, his police cap in his hands, twisting it nervously. "When can we see him?" he asked.

"I can ask if you can go in now, if you like," Maura asked, already turning around. "He's not awake, but you can see him for yourself." Frankie nodded gratefully and Maura fluffed her hair, turning on her charm. As she walked away, Jane turned to Frost, taking a few steps away from her shell-shocked brother.

"Frost, I get being a little shook up, but what the hell happened out there?" she asked. Frost glanced over her shoulder at Frankie, waiting anxiously for Maura to return, and when he looked back, Jane realized he was hiding something too. She narrowed her eyes.

"Look, if he wants to tell you, he will," he said softly. "But it's his story and his secret."

Jane opened her mouth to reply, but Maura cut her off. "Frankie, I'll escort you back," she said. He lurched forward, like a car put in the wrong gear, and Maura smiled bracingly at him, her eyes sparkling. She led him down the hallway out of sight.

"Jane! Oh my gosh, Jane, where is Frankie Jr?" Angie burst into the waiting room, and brought noise with her. The silence Jane hadn't noticed she was drowning in was suddenly gone, and she almost smiled at the sight of her overbearing mother.

"He just went back with Maura to see Korsak, Ma, he's just fine," she patted her mom on the back and made a face at Frost, who cracked his first smile of the evening. Her mom still looked frantic, so Frost said he would get her a cup of coffee and skirted away.

"This was his first case, too," her mother fretted. "I knew he should have just stayed in the family business, plumbing—,"

"Is not what he wants to do with his life, Ma, you can't make his decisions," Jane kept one eye on the hallway that Frankie had just left. "He'll do just fine, you have to just trust him, and trust me. I'll keep him safe."

Her mother hugged her, and Jane smiled awkwardly, patting her mother on the top of the head. "Ma, I can't...really...breathe..."

Maura watched Frankie fidget surreptitiously out of the corner of her eye. "It looks worse than it actually is, Frankie, but it's not good."

He nodded, as if he wasn't really listening. She took a gentle hold of his wrist, her fingers barely touching his palms, and tugged, so he would turn to face her.

"He's going to be just fine," she insisted quietly.

"This is my fault," was his response. Then he removed his hand from hers and crept into the room, watching Korsak's chest rise and fall from the end of the bed. Maura, though her instincts told her to leave it alone, followed him.

"Technically, if you didn't shoot Korsak, then it wasn't your fault," she reasoned matter-of-factly. He shook his head emphatically, and she waited, in silence, for him to continue.

"Do you promise, and I mean really promise, not to tell anyone what I tell you?" Frankie asked. Maura, her promise to never lie on her tongue, frowned at the serious look on his face. She was never good at keeping secrets, especially if one asked outright; she could never lie.

"I can certainly try my hardest," she replied. Frankie sighed heavily and fell into the chair by the bed, seemingly deflated.

"I had been so excited to get my first arrest that I didn't think through the evidence. I knew there was going to be a deal going down when we went for Sparkman, especially at night in the park, and I pushed it anyway," his head was in his hands, but his words were clear.

"But I knew that this couldn't just be about dope. There were too many bodies, the murders too premeditated. So I kept an eye out for anything that suggested otherwise."

Maura released a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding. "And what did you find?" She asked.

"When I took down Sparkman—,"

"Wait, you took down Sparkman?" Maura interrupted. "The police report says it was Detective Frost."

"We lied."

Maura pursed her lips. "Why?"

"When I patted him down, I found this," Frankie reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a scalpel, shiny and new, with a note wrapped around it. Maura snatched some gloves from the sink and slipped them on. Frankie shrugged and handed it to her, and slowly she unfolded it, the knot in her stomach tightening every second.

"Good evening, Frankie Jr. You don't know me, but I certainly know you, and I remember your sister, Jane. I'm sure you remember my friend...oh, but you remember her as Lola, don't you?"

Maura almost dropped the note. "Frankie..."

"Keep reading."

"You killed her, Frankie. That wasn't very nice. Now, I'm not the type that hurts people like you, but Miss Lola had a few admirers. Since I am, what would you say, close to your sister, I felt like it was my duty to warn you: some of those admirers might come looking for you. I suggest you get gone before they do."

Maura's mouth was hanging open now. She understood the message so far. You killed my apprentice, I'm not very happy about it, I have friends that will come after you, I almost killed your sister, so you know what I'm capable of. But the last line confused her.

"Tell the good doctor I'm watching her as well."

She felt her fingers tremble and almost dropped the note. She handed it back to Frankie, who numbly folded it and returned it to its place. "It's a threat," she said quietly. "Plain and simple. But what does this have to do with Korsak?"

"I took my time reading this stupid note, and by the time I had hauled Sparkman up to ask him where he got the note, his partner had already fired rounds into Korsak's shoulder! This guy murdered people to become a suspect, so when he was arrested, this note could get to me. These murders, that suspect, that arrest, it all comes down to me!" he pushed his hands through his hair.

"We have to tell Jane," she said. "We can't keep this from her."

"Do you know how guilty she'll feel? How upset she's going to be? She's going to think this is her fault, that I'm being targeted because of her! She is victimized enough by Hoyt. I don't want to add to it."

"This isn't about adding guilt, it's about saving people, maybe even yourself," Maura coaxed, almost itching to read that letter again.

"And what about you?" he asked softly.

Maura looked surprised; she had forgotten Hoyt had mentioned her in the letter. "Well, he didn't...threaten me...per se," she stammered. Frankie was looking at her more seriously than he ever had before, but she found no trouble meeting his eyes. "I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you," she finished. "And Jane."

A small moan came from the mess of blankets in the bed. "What about me? Who's worried about me?"

"Korsak!" Frankie sprang away from Maura and hurtled to his side. "How do you feel?"

He coughed roughly. "Like I had a tube down my throat," he rasped.

"That's because you did," Maura piped up helpfully. Frankie's face twitched, like he wanted to smile, but his eyes were still heavy. Korsak chuckled, and groaned, raising his good arm to his chest.

"So, did you get 'im?" he turned his eyes to Frankie again. He nodded, a strained smile on his face, and Korsak managed a weak one in return. "Good. So, when can I get out of here?"

Maura, who had been watching Frankie's reaction, smiled softly at Korsak. "You'll be here for at least a few days to recuperate. You lost quite a bit of blood, and even when you do get out, you'll be stuck at home for a little while."

Korsak looked disappointed, but unsurprised. "Is Frost okay?" he asked. "And Jane?"

"Jane is here, and so is Angie and Frost. All in the waiting room, but Frankie wanted to see you," Maura replied. "I couldn't say no."

"Yeah, the Rizzoli's really have you wrapped around their respective little fingers," Frankie muttered, but the comment sounded more friendly than sarcastic. Maura smiled in response as the doctor entered.

"I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave Mr. Korsak to rest," Dr. Davidson apologetically glanced at Maura, who didn't look offended. Frankie looked like he was going to protest, but Korsak nodded at him, a smile on his face. He reluctantly let Maura put a hand on his shoulder and she steered him out of the room.

"Thank you, Dr. Davidson," Maura fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Keep him safe, okay?"

Dr. Davidson looked bashful. "I always do."

Frankie made a face. "You better," he muttered under his breath. Maura's hand on his shoulder tightened almost imperceptibly and she gave him a chiding grin as they turned down the hallway.

"Do you feel any better?" she asked.

"Yeah," he lied. Maura averted her eyes, but Frankie grabbed her wrist before they were in earshot of his sister and mother. "Dr. Isles," he began. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

She felt her chest ache almost instantly with an emotion she couldn't identify. "I don't think so," she responded. "Why?"

"Because tomorrow I'm going to teach you how to shoot a gun."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, it has been over a week, and I apologize for that...But here you go, anyway.

Disclaimer: I love R&I, but they are not nor will they ever be mine.

Chapter Two: Absolutely Nothing

"Put your left hand, here," Frankie shifted Maura's soft hand so it was placed correctly under the butt of the gun. "Now, bend your elbow..." he poked her right elbow. "Feet, shoulder width apart," his foot nudged her bare one; he had insisted Maura remove her heels, unsure of how it would affect her balance. She had protested magnificently; now they were standing on a red shag rug she had produced from her office.

"And shoot?"

Frankie chuckled. "You're being way too impatient. Line up your target, inhale..." he waited until he could feel her ribs expanding under his hand. "Exhale, and squeeze," she let out her breath and squeezed the trigger too fast, elbowing Frankie in the nose.

He recoiled, painfully aware that not only did he look absolutely ridiculous, but this was probably a sick cosmic joke for elbowing his sister in the nose almost a year before. He remembered it well; she had never let it go.

"Frankie, I'm so sorry, are you okay? Her fragile fingers flitted over his face gently. He smiled through the pain. "Oh, your nose is bleeding," she said sadly.

He looked startled. "It-it is?" He dabbed at his face, and glanced at his red dipped fingers. "How did your tiny little elbow do this?"

Maura, much to his surprise, didn't give him a paragraph on momentum, but twisted awkwardly around to inspect the offending elbow. "The recoil from the force of the gun propelled my elbow in an upward direction?"

Frankie smirked, his hand still over his face. "Yeah, that must be it."

"Frankie, have you seen Ma- oh what the heck happened to you?" Jane swatted her brother's hands away from his nose. She turned to Maura, who hurriedly pushed the gun away from her. "Did you do this?"

Frankie shook his head frantically behind Maura, who hesitated. Jane raised her eyebrows. "Maura..."

"Okay, yes, Frankie is teaching me to shoot," Maura quickly answered.

"Really?" Jane turned to Frankie, who was attempting to wipe his nose clean. "Why would she need to learn to fire a gun?"

Frankie frowned, but didn't answer. Jane, incredulous, turned to Maura. "Why would you need to learn to fire a gun?"

"Come on, that's not fair!" Frankie shouted.

Maura looked at Frankie, and back at Jane. "To protect myself." Jane frowned, Frankie looked proud, and Maura forced a smile.

"Fine," Jane groused. "Don't tell me. We have a body, so..." she motioned to the door. "Unless you want to get back to your date..." she raised her eyebrows at Frankie.

"It's not a date," Frankie and Maura protested.

"And you didn't elbow my brother in the nose," Jane retorted. "Let's go!"

Maura Isles had never been a good actress. So when they arrived at the crime scene, Jane could tell instantly that something was wrong. She kept one eye on her pale best friend as she surveyed the scene.

"Victim's name is Frank Mathinson, 27, lives by the docks," Maura passed the wallet to Jane, who perused it.

"Not a robbery," she noted. Maura, who was digging through Frank's pockets, paused on the inside pocket of his jacket. She pulled out a folded piece of paper with a familiar name on the front.

"Jane, can you grab me a bag?" Maura asked, tucking her stash of bags in her box. As soon as Jane turned her back, she slipped the note in her blouse. Jane turned around, bag in hand, and the note was successfully hidden. She passed her the bag, and Maura dropped in it a scalpel that had been driven into the victim's skull. Jane grimaced, and Maura saw her face go ashen for a moment. Scalpels would always make her uncomfortable.

"TOD?" She asked. Maura glanced up from the body.

"I'll have to get him to the slab." She replied.

"Of course you will." Jane tied her hair up in a ponytail as her brother slipped under the caution tape.

"What'd I miss" Frankie, removing his cap, crossed his arms over his chest.

"Something interesting," Maura noted. "The victim has your name." His eyes met hers and she widened them slightly, hoping he'd notice.

He did. "It's a common name," he shrugged. "Anything else weird?"

"He was killed by a scalpel," Jane jumped in. Frankie visibly paled, but coughed and covered his face, and his emotions were hid from view again. Maura straightened up, smoothing her dress, and noticed a drop of blood still on Frankie's face. She reached up and wiped it off, watching his face. He blushed.

"When you two are done being disgusting," Jane retorted. Frankie took two hurried steps back. Maura looked away.

"Maura, my car, now," Jane opened the passenger door.

"Can I drive?"

"No," Maura settled in the passenger seat, buckling herself in quietly. Jane started the car, her eyes on Maura's profile. "So."

Jane motioned to the crime scene. "You want to explain yourself?" Maura looked confused. "With my brother?"

"He had blood on his face...so I got it off..."

"Right, so that's why he blushed," Jane deadpanned, taking a sharp left, parking in front of the precinct like she always did.

"I would not pretend to know why blood would rush to his cheeks," Maura intoned. Jane rolled her eyes and exited the car, letting the door fall closed loudly behind her.

The coroner's van pulled up behind them and Maura paused to wait for the body bag with Frank Mathinson's body. Frankie jumped out of the back of the van and locked eyes with Maura, his face worried and tight. She gave him a bracing smile and grabbed his arm. "Come by the morgue in an hour," she whispered.

He nodded, his smell of pine wafting toward her temptingly. She inhaled deeply, and let him go.

"You two are adorable," Frost snickered. Maura whirled around, almost falling over in surprise. "Don't freak out," he said. " I'm just leaving."

"That, that wasn't what it..."

Frost held up his hand. "I'm not going to say anything to anyone, I promise."

Maura released a breath, "Frost, it's really nothing."

Frost raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Then why are you blushing?"

Maura had asked Frankie to join her in the morgue at the exact moment Jane would choose to step out of the morgue, when she was going through the stomach contents. He stumbled in, his hair disheveled, and instantly averted his eyes from the bowl of pinkish stomach acid.

"So, what did you find?" he asked. She frowned and reached into her blouse. "Whoa, whoa."

"I found a note," she explained, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh."

She pulled out the warm folded paper and passed it to Frankie, who stared at it. "Just open it," she said, leaning against the table. He glanced up at her, and she smiled at him again, bracing, like she had outside the precinct. Still, his hands didn't move. She reached over and covered his hands with her own. "You have to open it," she said.

He kept his eyes on hers and opened the note under her hands. She moved away to stand next to him and glanced at the note, addressed to Maura.

_Dear Frank Rizzoli Jr., _

_How did you like the present we left you? Frank Mathinson, making a connection yet? He's your age too. The only way to save yourself is to find us, and kill us, because if you don't, we will take everything from you, starting with your sister, your parents, your brother, and then your lovely friend, the Doctor. _

_I'm sure you're reading this too, Maura Isles. You might want to help your "friend" Frankie Rizzoli let go of his life, because he's about to lose it all. _

Frankie's hands were shaking, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He let the letter fall to the ground and watched it flutter to the cement floor. Maura watched him closely, but didn't speak. His face was whiter than he had ever seen it.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, more to the room and the body of his doppelganger than anything else.

"We catch him," Maura replied. Frankie jumped, like he had forgotten she was there. "The only way to put this to rest is to catch Hoyt's minion and keep you alive." She glanced up into Frankie's soft eyes and smiled. "I can't have you die, I like you alive."

Frankie looked astonished. "Wow, how many people have you said that to?"

Maura blushed. "Just your sister," she replied quietly.

"I feel special now," he smiled, reaching down to pick up the letter. He kept his eyes on her and used the side of the counter to pull himself up. His fingers covered hers, much like she had done to him only minutes before. Maura stared at their fingers curiously, as though trying to decode her own reaction.

"Well, you are Jane's brother," she murmured. "We can't have you die."

Frankie removed his fingers. "Right."

She frowned. "Frankie, that's not what I –"

"What's going on?" Jane nudged the door open, two sandwich halves in her hands.

Frankie stuffed the note in his pocket. "Nothing," he snapped. "Absolutely nothing." He brushed past Jane and shoved the door open, leaving Maura alone with her best friend. Jane kept her eyes on Maura's face. She looked confused, upset, and stressed.

"Maura, I'm your best friend. Come on," Jane was getting rapidly frustrated. "You cannot keep secrets from me, especially during an investigation."

Maura looked distraught. "I'm not supposed to tell you, but..." her eyes were filling up with tears, her gaze still on the door that Frankie had just shoved open. Suddenly, Jane was by her side, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"But what, Maura?"

"You're the only one who can help," Maura answered quietly.

"Help with what?" Jane asked. "You know I'll do anything to help you." Maura looked into her friend's eyes, identical to Frankie's, and felt the knot in her stomach lessen. She told Jane everything she knew, from the first note and Korsak's shooting to the note she had uncovered from the crime scene and Frankie's involvement.

"Why didn't you tell me?" was the first thing the ghost of Jane Rizzoli asked. Her face was ashen, her hands a little unsteady, but her eyes were blazing with a fiery determination Maura only saw when one of her own were threatened. The stress in her shoulders lessened, as if she had removed part of the burden and passed it on.

"Frankie asked me not to," Maura whispered. She tucked her hair behind her ears and focused her eyes on the floor, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks.

"And you listened to him?"

"Try not to sound so incredulous," she finally looked up into her friend's eyes. Jane was staring her down, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Do you like him?"

Maura faltered, her jaw falling open. "I...I don't know." Jane smirked. "Right now, I want nothing more than to protect him."

"Are you lying?" Jane asked, incredulous. "I thought you couldn't lie!"

"I can't lie!"

"Then why did you just do it?" Jane asked. "I know you like him Maura. I'm not going to get mad at you," she crossed her arms.

"Can we just...can we talk about this later? When Frankie's life isn't being threatened?" Maura asked, slightly impatiently. She snapped on her goggles and reached for gloves. "Can you go get the note from Frankie? I need to check it for prints."

Jane watched her best friend work studiously for almost a minute before she decided she would get nothing more out of her, and left to search out her brother.


End file.
